Sitting outside on the porch yesterday morning, enjoying a cup of coffee, I had the three little birds (2 parakeets & a parrotlet) in their cage which I put in a large cage for their safety. It has a somewhat complicated latch. My macaw (pictured here) was outside with me. He was wandering around and climbed up on the big cage. He wanted in. I did not want him in there so he took matters into his own hands, or should I say beak. What he proceeded to do simply stunned me. Animal intelligence underestimated!
The latch is not easy to open. I have to lift up until it catches and then I slide it to the left. It’s not an easy “slide.” I have to wiggle it to the left. Apparently my macaw, whose name is Ducky, has been watching me open up the door. This sets the scene as to what happened next.
Sitting there enjoying my coffee, Ducky climbed up on the big cage. He hung on the door and I watched him lift the latch. He now has my full attention as I want to see what he does next. After lifting the latch, he is still for a moment and then moves to the right of the door and latch. He needs his body weight to push against the latch. I watch him push and then start tapping at it with his beak to get it to move. Once he has moved it, he moves even farther to the right so he can swing the door open.
Why I find this so amazing is that it really is a complicated latch. He had to be watching me to be able to figure out how to open it. He knew the steps he had to take in order to open it. First, he had to lift the latch until it clicked in place. Once it clicked in place, he needed to slide it to the left. He had to move over to slide it because it is somewhat heavy for his size. He had to bang at it with his beak and in order to do so so, he had to be at the right hand side to bang at it. Once it was unlatched, he had to move even farther to the right to swing open the door.
I really was simply amazed and shocked that he was able to get the door open. We take these critters for granted but they really have an intelligence that we may not be aware of. He was quiet in going about his business in opening the door. He was quiet as he watched me in the past open the door. He took in the the requirements for opening up the latch. I had no idea he was watching and learning. I did not train him, he watched and learned on his own.
Amazing!
No comments:
Post a Comment